Finding a Way Home
by cypher2012
Summary: What if Jacob had fallen in love with a vampire instead of Renesmee? One that was older, wiser, stronger, and infinitely more mysterious? This is set in Breaking Dawn and is about the struggle between the witnesses and the Volturi. Review please!
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: **Hello everyone! This is my first fanfic so please be gentle! I have not written much of this story, but if people respond and like it, I will continue it. Thanks and enjoy.

Oh, I think that I have to say this: I do not own any of the _Twilight_ characters, but Willow is all my own and very dear to me.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

My feet knew the way well. I did not have to think in order to return to Carlisle. Not only was I drawn to my oldest friend, but also I was sure that _he_ was there. How did Carlisle know him? What was he doing there? How strong was their relationship? I had no answers and only questions, questions, questions.

The hood had fallen off my face long before and I surrendered my senses back to the elements. No longer would I plague my mind with these issues, but instead let it run free and enjoy the speed of my return and rescue. I prayed for Carlisle's safety, hoping that I could give it to him, knowing that I would give my life in the attempt. Would he welcome my coming? It has been so long since I have seen his face. I heard he made a family for himself, modeling it after our discoveries, but I had yet to meet any of its members. I am afraid that I have been negligent in our friendship.

I heard he found a wife, Esme; such a beautiful name that I was sure could only fit an equally beautiful woman. He also created a son, Edward, whom I was told had a gift for mind reading. He must be young, he still believed his gift to be great, and he knew not what it could do. I had also heard rumors of Edward's young, newborn wife and the daughter they fought to save. I waited to meet the infant, she intrigued me. Two more daughters and their mates belonged to Carlisle's family as well. An ordinary daughter Rosalie and her monstrosity of a mate, Emmett, were two of the four. The last two, Alice and Jasper, had gifts as well as Edward. Jasper controlled emotions while Alice—poor, poor, Alice—saw the future.

My feet flew beneath me and I felt the big, white house looming just ahead. I slowed my pace until I reached a stop. Knowing I should not and feeling guilty, I ran a hand through my hair and smoothed my clothes. How silly that after three thousand years that I was preening myself for a man I had never met! I resolved not to love him. As punishment for my foolishness, I secured my cloak around me and restored my hood to its original place, covering my face. He would not see me. Slowly, I approached the house quietly with all the stealth my abilities could muster until I heard raised voices.

It seemed that Carlisle was having problems keeping his witnesses placated. A certain vampire, Amun, argued with Carlisle over his creation, Benjamin. Stupid, foolish man. Did he know Carlisle at all?

I continued to listen as I scaled the eight steps to the door, my presence going unnoticed. Several vamps were now pledging their allegiance to the Cullens' cause. I smiled. It was my turn now.

Checking to make sure my hood was in place, I raised a fist and knocked on the wooden door three times.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

My muscles became taut and frantic as I ran to Renesmee and shielded her with my body. What trick was this? That someone could approach a house full of vampires and not be heard? I prepared myself for danger, my lips stretched thin over my teeth. Edward, my love, came to stand by me, shielding us as well. That was not a good sign.

Carlisle looked frightened. He too was thinking along the same lines as I. He looked around the room full of tense vampires, all in crouches, ready to fight, then went to the door. Slowly, he turned the knob and let the door swing open.

He gasped, froze, and then fell to his knees. "It cannot be!" he whispered, but of course, we all heard anyway.

In front of him stood a figure, cloaked in black. The figure was tall and slender with its face and skin hidden. There was no heartbeat, which meant that it was one of us, but I was not relieved. Only the Volturi wore black cloaks.

"Carlisle," it spoke and its voice was melodious, beautiful, and definitely female. "Carlisle, stand up."

Carlisle remained on his knees, his breath knocked out of him, registering only surprise and.…relief? Could that be?

"How?" he croaked. "How is this possible?"

"Carlisle," again she spoke his name. The voice seemed to reverberate around the room and resonated power. "Carlisle, please get up," she pleaded.

Carlisle refused to move and the figure became agitated. She shifted her weight to one of her feet and a slim, ivory arm emerged from the folds of the cloak, its gloved hand gesturing upwards. Without any effort from Carlisle, he rose to his feet, following the motion of the satin, black glove and then stepped aside. His head was bowed with the mystery of this figure's appearance. Suddenly, he raised his head.

"Will," he breathed.

The figure lithely walked around him and entered the room. I saw slender, bare feet peek out from under the cloak as she continued her way forward around the room. All eyes followed her, all thought of defense gone from the first sound of her voice, anger was replaced with curiosity as we all wondered who this woman was whose presence had dropped Carlisle to his knees.

She approached Edward, Renesmee, and I and stopped when she reached us. She then turned back to Carlisle's expectant gaze and nodded. "I stand with the Cullens as well," she said.

Carlisle let out a whoosh of air and walked up to her. "But Willow, how….?"

She placed a gloved hand on Carlisle's shoulder. "You honestly thought I would let you fight them alone, old friend? That I would let you risk your family when it was in my power to protect you, all of you?"

Carlisle remained silent, still struck dumb by her appearance.

"Come, Carlisle," she said. "Come and have a chat with me. It has been too long, my friend."


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N:** Hey all, so last chapter I had a little bit in Bella's point of view (I don't think that I made that clear enough), but I think that from now on I am going to keep it in Will's POV. Please, please review so I know what you like, what you don't like….

WJWJWJWJWJWJWJWJWJW

I sat on the top step of Carlisle's porch and listened to the steady drip of the rain, falling off the trees that were so close I could almost touch them. It was amazing that a place existed where you still felt completely isolated when you were actually just a few miles from town. It had not always been so. I could remember a time when you were the only person in at least a five-mile radius. Of course, this was also almost two thousand years ago.

When you are as old as I am, time has a way of sneaking up on you like that. You find yourself wishing for the "good ole days" and wondering how civilization has come to a point when a thirteen year old girl texts more than she talks. But I still remember lazy, afternoon picnics with friends and family after a Sunday sermon and I still remember the strain of the muscles in my shoulders as I carried buckets of water from the creek nearby my home.

I shook my head then. I was almost four thousand years old now, yet I looked not a day over sixteen!

I heard footsteps as they approached and immediately recognized them as Carlisle's. After last night's grand entrance, Carlisle and I had locked ourselves away in his study and talked all night about everything and nothing. He told me that he had become a doctor and had fashioned himself a family; he told me all about how great they were and how they were all so powerful; how they all had special qualities. I had not the heart to tell him that his children's gifts would someday become their curses.

I knew. I had learned that lesson the hard way.

I sighed and wrapped my cloak more tightly around my body as Carlisle settled himself gently onto the step next to me. He folded his hands and rested his elbows on his knees then leaned over and bumped my shoulder. "Penny for your thoughts?" Carlisle asked.

I laughed. "Honestly," I said, "I was thinking about how much I miss tough, manual labor."

Carlisle cracked a smile. "Ah yes," he replied, "Back when indoor plumbing consisted of a chamber pot."

"That's where you're wrong," I quipped, "We didn't even know the term indoor plumbing then."

He and I both laughed and stared out past each other into the foliage that so completely surrounded us. I struggled so hard not to ask him about the face I had seen burned into my thoughts. A face with a beautifully, dark complexion surrounded by long, luscious black hair with white teeth shining out through parted lips. What was his connection to all this? To Carlisle?

Just then, a strange scent snaked across the air in front of me and instantly I was on my feet, stance wide, eyes wider, senses jangling. It was a mystery to me what this odor represented. It was wholly unfamiliar and therefore it was dangerous. My muscles tensed and I turned to Carlisle.

"Get back in the house, Carlisle. There's something coming and I…. I don't know what it is."

Carlisle surreptitiously sniffed the air. He made a slightly disgusted face, then quickly erased his expression. I looked at him questioningly.

Even though he could not see my face buried inside my hood, I felt as though Carlisle could feel my gaze and began to explain. "It's the locals," he said. "They're a little difficult to explain. Nothing to worry about though, Will."

"Try," I urged.

"Well," he began, "There's a native tribe that originated around here, named the Quileutes, and legend has it that they're descended from wolves."

"Legend has it, huh?" I asked, waiting for clarification.

Carlisle sighed and pulled me back down next to him. "When my family and I came here many years ago, we found the country inhabited by these large wolves. They were openly aggressive and lived to torment us. One day, we were hunting and came across a lone man in the woods. Before our eyes, he transformed into one of these large wolves. Almost immediately, he was joined by two others." Carlisle paused. "Now that we realized these animals were men, we were able to reason with them and make a peace treaty. As long as we promised not to bite a human, they would not hunt us and would stay on their side on the boundary."

"And all these natives are wolves?" I asked.

"No," Carlisle smiled. "No, not all of them. It would seem that the presence of vampires awakens the gene in the local youths, causing them to, well, change. There hadn't been wolves in years until we returned and then their numbers started increasing." The breeze brushed our cheeks, bringing a fresh wave of the strange scent.

"They've kept to their side of the bargain… so far," Carlisle continued.

"So far?" I questioned.

"They threatened an attack," he paused, "When we turned Bella. You see, the treaty was that we would not bite a human, _bite_ not kill."

"What changed?"

"One of their number," Carlisle answered. "His name is Jacob Black. He's one of the younger ones, but he and Bella used to be best friends of sorts. He was devastated when she turned."

"And now?"

"Bella was lucky," Carlisle said. "She kept her humanity when she turned. She showed Jacob that she was the same Bella as ever, just a little different. He didn't like it at first, and I'm sure he still doesn't, but he seems to have come to terms with it. He stopped the others from coming after us."

The wind blew and I was once again assailed with their scent and again noticed the look of discomfort on Carlisle's face. "What, Carlisle?" I asked concerned.

"Nothing," he replied quickly. "I mean, I try not to let the kids see—I don't want to set a bad example—but don't they smell awful? Like a wet dog?" His nose scrunched up.

I laughed at Carlisle's immaturity. "Actually," I replied honestly, "I find the smell rather enticing. A little woodsy with a hint of fire smoke, but it also has a primitive, masculine fragrance. Almost feral," I finished.

Now it was Carlisle's turn to look flabbergasted. After a moment's hesitation, a great smile broke over Carlisle's face. "You never cease to amaze me, Will," he finally said. "Even after all these years."

"Wouldn't have it any other way, dear friend," I said. I grabbed his arm. "Come on," I continued, "I'm beginning to get another idea," and I led him back into the house.

WJWJWJWJWJWJW

"You're crazy!" the blonde, temperamental girl named Rosalie bellowed at me.

"Excuse me?" I replied coldly.

"If you think for one minute that I'm going to work with those… those… _pups_ then you are completely and absolutely nuts!" she exclaimed.

"Well," I said, "Maybe I am a little crazy, but, as I see it, we don't have much choice. We can either humble ourselves and ask them to help us, or we can wait for the Volturi to come and catch us unprepared and outnumbered."

"Well, I for one—" Rosalie began, but she was interrupted by the one named Edward.

"Oh, quit it Rosalie! This is the life of my daughter we are talking about here!" he yelled out in frustration. "Now, I don't like the idea of involving them in this either, but Will's right. We need all the help we can get. If we're outnumbered, the Volturi aren't even going to hesitate, they'll just start the killing! But if we can get enough people to stand by us, the Volturi might hesitate long enough to be reasoned with!"

There was a long silence, finally broken by Carlisle. "All right," he said. "We go to the wolves tonight and ask for their help. Bella, Edward, Will, and I will go to reason with them. Any objections?"

There was silence, but Rosalie's expression showed that she very much objected.

"Okay, then," I said. "We leave as soon as everyone is ready."

WJWJWJWJWJWJWJWJWJW

We crept through the woods as quickly as we could. After a ways, I began to feel that we were being followed by several large, quietly moving beasts. Bella suggested and it was agreed that we would lead them to the cliffs and meet with them there. As we moved closer to their reservation, their interesting, teasing scent only grew stronger. I felt myself taking great, unnecessary breaths just to keep that glorious smell fresh in my mind.

We reached the cliffs in no time and then we waited. Within minutes, we heard the telltale signs of brush cracking under their weight as they abandoned all pretenses of covering their stalking. The sounds grew louder as they came closer, but eventually the noise stopped. Moments after, the first boy strode into the clearing.

He was tall with short hair and a ruddy complexion. His expression showed that he was not happy to see us on his land. He was followed by two others, smaller than he was, but with the same dark skin tone. My stomach began to bunch into knots.

They were followed by more boys and a girl and as each one emerged from the forest; my stomach dropped more and more, until it was almost as low as the sea crashing against the rocks below us.

Finally, _finally_, a solitary boy emerged from the woods. The force of seeing his face dropped me to my knees. His hair was shorter and his countenance was stern instead of smiling, but I knew beyond the shadow of a doubt. This was the man that I had seen in my waking dreams for the last three thousand years of my life. _ This _was the man that I had sworn not to love and as he came to a stop slightly behind and to the left of the leader, I knew that it was already too late. My heart screamed his name before I even heard it and knew it was so.

_Jacob._


End file.
